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Engineering, Building, and Architecture

Not many museums collect houses. The National Museum of American History has four, as well as two outbuildings, 11 rooms, an elevator, many building components, and some architectural elements from the White House. Drafting manuals are supplemented by many prints of buildings and other architectural subjects. The breadth of the museum's collections adds some surprising objects to these holdings, such as fans, purses, handkerchiefs, T-shirts, and other objects bearing images of buildings.

The engineering artifacts document the history of civil and mechanical engineering in the United States. So far, the Museum has declined to collect dams, skyscrapers, and bridges, but these and other important engineering achievements are preserved through blueprints, drawings, models, photographs, sketches, paintings, technical reports, and field notes.

The largest artifact in the museum, this Georgian-style, 2 ½-story timber-framed house was built in the 1760s and stood at 16 Elm Street in the center of Ipswich, Massachusetts, until 1963 when efforts by Ipswich citizens saved it from the bulldozer. The house was carefully taken apart—the frame, chimney, and many other pieces were shipped to the Museum and reassembled.

Today, the house is the centerpiece of the exhibition Within These Walls , and visitors are able to peer through its walls, windows, and doors to view settings played out against the backdrop of Colonial America, the American Revolution, the abolitionist movement, the industrial era, and World War II. The exhibition tells the story of five ordinary families, selected from many, who lived in this house over 200 years and made history in their kitchens and parlors, through everyday choices and personal acts of courage and sacrifice.

As illustrated in this child's tool chest from around 1900, children in the early 20th century encountered their society's gender expectations at a young age. The tool chest from R. Bliss & Co. declared carpentry to be boys' work. It came with a hinged lid and a sliding, removable top tray. Inside is a colored picture of boys building a house under a banner that reads "BLISS UNION TOOL CHESTS FOR BOYS." R. Bliss & Co., established in 1845, started as a tool company, making wooden screws and clamps for piano and cabinetmakers, before it became a leading manufacturer of toys by the turn of the 20th century.

Kentontoys, manufactured by the Kenton Hardware Company of Kenton, Ohio, was born out of the Kenton Lock Manufacturing Company in the 1890s, which produced cast iron locks, doorknobs, and hardware for furniture. In 1894, Kenton ventured into the newly expanding market of toy banks and eventually produced many different types of toys well into the 20th century. This toy steam shovel called the “Marion,” from around 1930, represents a power shovel produced by another important Ohio company, the Marion Steam Shovel Company.

Toys such as this shovel raise questions about the relationship between technological innovation and social impact. The use of steam-powered vehicles to move large amounts of earth and other natural obstacles made it possible to expand into previously remote areas. The Marion Steam Shovel Company provided shovels that helped alter land for the expanding railroads and for the digging of the Panama Canal.

Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Alexander Gardner, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.

The house of Mrs. Lee, situated in Pleasant Valley, Maryland, was selected by General McClellan, after the battle of Antietam, as a temporary home for Mrs. McClellan, who paid a brief visit to the army. The General spent much of his time here, when not occupied with military matters, and in the vine-clad porch the officers of the Staff whiled away many a pleasant October day. Two of the officers shown in this group were members of General Burnside's Staff, and one of General McClellan's. It was intended that General McClellan should make one of the group, and all the necessary arrangements had been perfected by the photographer, when heavy cannonading on the Virginia side of the Potomac, caused by a reconnoitring party of cavalry, drew the General away.

The headquarters were located in a field near this house, and were composed only of a sufficient number of tents to shelter the General and Staff, and the offices of the various departments. A portion of the army was encamped along the base of Maryland Heights and South Mountain, and the remainder was located on the heights back of Harper's Ferry. Supplies were forwarded over the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, which afforded excellent facilities for visiting the army, and thousands of the friends of the soldiers found their way to camp. The citizens of Maryland were noted for their hospitality to such visitors, and their generosity to the troops. When the army was on the march, many families stood at their gateways with buckets of water for the thirsty men, and filled the canteens of all who had time to wait. There were very few of the Army of the Potomac who left Maryland and crossed into Virginia after Lee without regretful partings with new made friends, and for many a month thereafter the bivouac was enlivened by the memories and recital of the Marylanders' welcome.

The model No. 47 Weeden Toy Steam Engine was produced by the Weeden Manufacturing Company of New Bedford, Massachusetts from 1898 until 1913. The toy engine consists of a horizontal brass boiler with flywheel and centrifugal flyball governor mounted on a cast iron base. The cast iron base is stamped “WEEDEN MANF. Co. No. 47”.

The Weeden Manufacturing Company was founded in New Bedford, Massachusetts by William M. Weeden in the early 1880s, originally producing a variety of tinplate household items. In 1884 it introduced the Weeden No. 1 Steam engine as “a new and great premium for boys” who were subscribers to the Youth’s Companion magazine. Weeden made over a hundred different models of toy steam engines until the company ceased operations in 1952.

This toy steam engine was made by an unknown German manufacturer during the early 20th century. The horizontal steam boiler powers a flywheel which is connected to a dynamo that can power the attached bulb. The boiler, flywheel, dynamo, and light bulb are all attached to the wooden base.

Live steam toys enjoyed a period of popularity from the 1880s until the 1930s. The miniature steam engines were marketed as both toys and instructive devices that mimicked full-scale steam-powered machines and allowed every boy and girl to be their own engineer. In toy steam engines, a heating source is introduced into the firebox below the boiler (early toys used lit wicks fueled by denatured alcohol, later toys used electricity) which heated the water to produce the steam pressure that ran the engine. A variety of accessories could be powered by the engine; attachments included windmills, pumps, grinders, and electric lights.

This toy steam engine was made by the Märklin Company around 1920. This toy steam engine consists of a vertical brass boiler that powered a flywheel, mounted on a metal plate painted green.

The Märklin Company was established in 1859 in the town of Göppingen, Germany by tin smith Theodor Friedrich Wilhelm Märklin. Märklin began his business with the production of tin doll houses, but the company soon began producing a variety of tinplate and metal items, eventually specializing in toys that included steam engines such as this one.

This toy steam engine was made by an unknown German company during the early 20th century. The toy consists of a horizontal boiler with chimney on a simulated brickwork firebox. The horizontal slide valve engine powers a flywheel with a centrifugal flyball governor. The boiler and engine are mounted on a cast iron plate.

Live steam toys enjoyed a period of popularity from the 1880s until the 1930s. The miniature steam engines were marketed as both toys and instructive devices that mimicked full-scale steam-powered machines and allowed every boy and girl to be their own engineer. In toy steam engines, a heating source is introduced into the firebox below the boiler (early toys used lit wicks fueled by denatured alcohol, later toys used electricity) which heated the water to produce the steam pressure that ran the engine. A variety of accessories could be powered by the engine; attachments included windmills, pumps, grinders, and electric lights.

This vertical toy steam engine was manufactured by an unknown German company during the early 20th century. The toy consists of a fire box, a vertical boiler with chimney, and a vertical engine attached to a flywheel all mounted on a cast iron base.

Live steam toys enjoyed a period of popularity from the 1880s until the 1930s. The miniature steam engines were marketed as both toys and instructive devices that mimicked full-scale steam-powered machines and allowed every boy and girl to be their own engineer. In toy steam engines, a heating source is introduced into the firebox below the boiler (early toys used lit wicks fueled by denatured alcohol, later toys used electricity) which heated the water to produce the steam pressure that ran the engine. A variety of accessories could be powered by the engine; attachments included windmills, pumps, grinders, and electric lights.

This horizontal toy steam engine was manufactured by an unknown German company during the early 20th century. The horizontal brass boiler with chimney sits on an iron metal firebox. The slide-valve engine is attached to a crankshaft and linked to a gearing that is connected to the flywheel. The engine has a decorative flyball governor.

Live steam toys enjoyed a period of popularity from the 1880s until the 1930s. The miniature steam engines were marketed as both toys and instructive devices that mimicked full-scale steam-powered machines and allowed every boy and girl to be their own engineer. In toy steam engines, a heating source is introduced into the firebox below the boiler (early toys used lit wicks fueled by denatured alcohol, later toys used electricity) which heated the water to produce the steam pressure that ran the engine. A variety of accessories could be powered by the engine; attachments included windmills, pumps, grinders, and electric lights.